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ICC may soon quit Lords, adopt Dubai as its headquarters

     New Delhi: The International Cricket Council might soon announce Dubai as its new headquarters and a decision to completely reorganise the international tour programme in the meeting of its Executive Board next month on March 17 and 18 in New Delhi. The News quoted sources in the Indian cricket board, as saying that the main highlights of the meeting would be a decision on the 10-year Future Tours Programme (FTP) of ICC for the 10 Test- playing nations. "One of the matters on agenda will be the review of cricket structure. This is a project that has been going on since June 2003, through which a number of potential models (to replace FTP) have been produced for the Board to consider," the paper quoted the sources, as saying. The presidents of the cricket boards might also announce their decision to shift the ICC headquarters from Lords in London to Dubai. The council has already approved the proposal by 11-1 in its earlier Executive board meeting but did not made any Šannouncement since it was still in discussions with Duabai. The council took this action following the United Kingdom's decision not to provide any major taxation relief to cricket's world governing body. The Council had launched the idea of FTP in 2001, but it could never be implemented as political reasons have been hijacking the India-Pakistan Test series since 1999, allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket led to many tours being cancelled and top Test playing nations refused to play against weaker teams so many times.

Select Shoaib only if 100 percent fit: Inzamam to Shaharyar (Go To Top)

     Karachi: Pakistan cricket team captain Inzamam-ul- Haq has firmly told the PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, that fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar should be selected in the team for the India Štour only if he is 100 per cent fit. Inzamam told Khan that "he was not happy with Shoaib's tendency to go individual at times and his frequent fitness problems. The board and selectors should ensure that he is only selected for India if he is 100 per cent fit," The News quoted Inzamam as saying. Inzamam and PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan had a lengthy meeting on Friday in which they reviewed various aspects of team's Australia tour and worked out strategy for the upcoming India series. Inzamam also submitted a tentative 16-member squad for the Indian tour, reported the paper. According to the sources, both Khan and Inzamam had a long discussion on Shoaib's attitude and his role in the team. Meanwhile, Shaharyar has assured Inzamam that he would continue as captain for the Indian tour as he had done a good job and deserved to lead the side, reports the paper. Inzamam's captaincy came under severe criticism after team's failure in Australia.

Himachal Pradesh apple growers have a record bumper crop (Go To Top)

     Kullu: Encouraged by a bumper crop last year, apple growers in Himachal Pradesh have taken to planting saplings in a big way, this time round. Orchards are abuzz with activity as growers are planting saplings after a good snowfall. Till now, 1.2 million new plantations have been completed on 4,000 hectares of land across the state with 20 days still left of the farming season. Officials expect the area under apple belt will reach 96,000 hectares, the highest in the country. SP Bharadwaj, Associate Director, Regional Horticulture Research Station, Mahobora, said the bumper production was due to a record snowfall, which the state has received after a period of 25 years. "In the whole region, there has been a plantation of five to six lakhs plants. The main reason for that has been the constant rainfall, heavy snowfall and awareness among the people compared to previous years," said Bharadwaj. Apple growers said the snowfall, which has acted as white manure for their crop, is helping them fill the pits and mulch the soil properly for the next season.

Forex reserves tumble down by 806 mn: RBI (Go To Top)

     Mumbai: Due to the large revaluation of international currencies, India's foreign exchange reserves have gone down by 806 million dollars, for the week ending February 4, 2005. Now the total reserves stand at 1,28,914 million dollars. The foreign currency assets for the period has also gone down by 612 million dollars, standing now at 1,23,107 million dollars, informed a Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement. The rate of Gold also dipped by 192 million dollars because of the revaluation. It now stands at 4,390 million dollars. The Indian Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) with International Monetary Fund (IMF) went down by two million dollars to reach 1,412 million dollars, the supplement added. It also said that during the fortnight ending January 28, 2005, the aggregate deposits with the banks grew by 48.19 billion (0.3 per cent) to 16,70,2.76 billion. However, the food credit for the same period decreased by 23.21 billion to 419.39 billion while non-food credit grew by 74.71 billion to 1,00,48.43 billion, it added.